Banana Shpeel was plagued with misfortunes, including original cast members and show creators being removed from the project. Prominent
Broadway actors Michael Longoria and
Annaleigh Ashford were written out of the production, along with original composer
Laurence O'Keefe. The show premiered to scathingly poor reviews from both amateur and professional critics, who found the show drenched in insipid humour and lacking in cohesion. After its try-out run in Chicago during November 2009-January 2010 at the
Chicago Theatre, the show moved to the
Beacon Theatre in New York, originally scheduled for additional performances for March to April 2010. The show's opening was delayed as it underwent a huge revision process, delaying the show's opening in New York from February 5 to February 29, and was subsequently delayed twice more to March 17, and finally to April 29. The show had undergone rework, adding in new acts, actors, characters, and storyline. The changes included the removal of composers Scott Price and Jean-François Côté, who were replaced by Cirque composer Simon Carpentier. The two lead clowns, Daniel Passer and Wayne Wilson, were fired from the production, but were hired soon after. Thanks to the resultant delays of the retool,
Ovo and Banana Shpeel were dueling shows in New York. Ovo would open first and receive much better reviews. After much delay and misfortune, the show finally began its run in New York City on April 29, 2010. Once again, the show garnered an impressive array of bad reactions from the general public and media outlets. Neil Genzlinger of
The New York Times wrote, "Should I feel guilty that, for me, the most satisfying moment of Cirque du Soleil’s
Banana Shpeel came when a clown was riddled with mock machine-gun fire?".
Banana Shpeel was scheduled to run at the Beacon Theatre until August 29, but the company shortened the run to end on June 27. Despite the show receiving a poor critical reception, Cirque insisted on continuing to showcase Banana Shpeel around the country, announcing that it would embark on a national tour later that year, starting in Toronto. The company's president and chief executive,
Daniel Lamarre, insisted that Cirque received no pressure from the Beacon Theatre and had voluntarily closed the show for a re-staging. The limited engagement of
Banana Shpeel ran in Toronto from September 18 to October 10. Despite one positive review, the show again received a generally poor response. Though the tour had originally been scheduled to go on to play in
San Francisco and the
Orange County Performing Arts Center, the production's mediocre reception prompted Cirque to cancel its upcoming tour. Despite any misgivings, a spokesperson from Cirque announced that the closure of the
Banana Shpeel tour was done in order to "...re-evaluate the tour plan to determine the appropriate next steps", prompting an implication that the show may reappear in another form at a later date. ==Characters==